The Empress’ Livestream

The Red Lotus Group was greatly alarmed by the illogical moves being played by Jiang Pengji. The faces of the top leaders of this evil sect had turned so dark it was as if their parents had died.

They knew that they were the target of Jiang Pengji’s military campaign, but in their hearts, they still prayed that this calamity would strike others, not themselves.

As time passed, the news being sent back by their informants was decreasing day by day. The top leaders started to get antsy.

“The purpose of calling everyone here is actually to discuss countermeasures to deal with this situation. Because of this matter, our chief has not slept for many days. As his left- and right-hand men, it is only right that we share his burdens and help to solve this disaster… Does anyone have any good countermeasures in mind?”

The speaker was a young scholar with a handsome and refined appearance who looked reserved and shy. However, he was full of wicked ideas.

Before the world was thrown into chaos, he had been a dissolute man who snuck around committing adultery with widows all day long. He’d taken advantage of the “winds of change” brought about by the earthquake at the capital and suddenly rose up to become a high-ranking leader in the Red Lotus Group. He was trusted by the chief and would habitually assume unwarranted authority based on some small pretext. He also bullied people by flaunting his powerful connections and oppressing the group members.

An Cui was amongst the crowd.

With Jiang Pengji’s financial and material assistance, An Cui’s plan to bribe and entice the people’s hearts was going smoothly.

How could a group of uneducated, illiterate commoners from an uncultured background stand a chance against An Cui’s glib tongue?

Even if they were wary at first, they inevitably couldn’t wait to show him their hearts and get on his good side after being thoroughly duped by him.

As a result, An Cui had risen through the ranks from his original position as an insignificant ringleader to a ringleader of middling importance. Therefore, he was eligible to participate in such meetings.

Just like Wei Ci’s criticism, An Cui’s acting skills were superb. If he were placed in the era of livestreaming, getting an Oscar would be as easy as pie for him.

More than anybody else, he hoped that Jiang Pengji would win. Correspondingly, he poured all his efforts into this assignment, far more than anybody else would have.

The chips that An Cui had staked on her would only double if Jiang Pengji won. Only with her victory would his chips have value.

Faced with the question posed by a high-ranking leader, the group of illiterate men with more brawn and brain looked at each other in dismay.

Asking them for advice, was the man amusing himself?

The atmosphere was awkward.

The scholar also seemed to realize this. He blushed and appeared to be a little embarrassed.

He must have experienced a cramp in his brain to ask for advice from a group of uneducated meatheads. What good ideas could a group of guys who were all about muscle come up with?

Just as he was thinking about how to get the topic back on track and to alleviate this awkward atmosphere, An Cui stepped out.

Compared with those meatheads who did not wash themselves for ten to fifteen days, An Cui, with his cultured and noble air, stood out from the masses.

An Cui, who looked manifestly superior to the rest of the men, stepped out and said, “I am willing to contribute my humble efforts to help maintain the chief’s hegemony.”

The scholar’s eyes lit up. He felt as if he had caught the scent of his ilk.

He quickly asked, “What’s your name?”

Luan An stated his family clan, not hiding his real name. Anyway, the ranks of the Red Lotus Group were destined to never know who “An Cui” was.

“Did you just say that you have an idea?” the scholar asked in an elegant and refined manner. He also called An Cui by his courtesy name. “Duo Xi, quick, tell us your idea.”

The plans of two were better than the plans of one, and the schemes of three were better than the schemes of two.

As the “strategist” that the chief of the Red Lotus Group relied on, the scholar’s skills were good enough to bully ordinary people around, but faced with such a strong enemy like Jiang Pengji, the little bit of knowledge that he possessed was sorely lacking. Therefore, in order to maintain the trust that the chief had in him, he’d held such a meeting.

A group strategy, a group effort; the solutions thought up by a group of people must be better than what he could come up with on his own.

Seeing An Cui, the scholar felt that he had hope.

An Cui’s appearance was second. The key was that he had a refined and noble air about him. At a glance, the scholar could tell that An Cui came from a good background and was literate and educated.

The scholar stubbornly maintained the notion that intellectuals must be smarter than meatheads.

An Cui deliberated, then said in a tone that was not hurried or rushed, “According to what I’ve seen, it is not the time to panic yet.”

The scholar frowned, feeling a little displeased. Not the time to panic yet? Were they supposed to wait to panic until knives were already lodged in their necks?

However, it was rare to find an intellectual within their ranks, so the scholar restrained himself.

“Why do you say that?”

An Cui puffed his chest out and said enthusiastically, “I heard that Emperor Dongqing has issued a decree ‘to mobilize all troops to save the emperor.’ The decree orders that all heroes should go to the capital to rescue the emperor. Liu Xi occupies the seat of power in Fengyi and Shangyang Counties. He has 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers and horses, and he has to obey the decree. If he does not go, he will be a rebel and traitor. He’ll be punished as a criminal once everyone knows about it. Therefore, Liu Xi must go to the capital with these troops to rescue the emperor.”

The scholar was astonished. An expression of wonder appeared on his face. Why hadn’t he thought about this layer of information?

He looked as if he had been enlightened as he mirrored An Cui in his analysis.

“So … Liu Xi deployed his troops not to attack us, but to go south to the emperor?”

Even though An Cui was a dedicated veteran actor, he felt as if he was at the end of his tether when faced with someone as gullible as this scholar.

How did the Chief of the Red Lotus Group get brave enough to let this idiot become his military strategist?

A donkey must have kicked his head!

If Liu Xi had assembled his troops to go rescue the emperor, why would he not even prepare to celebrate the Lunar New Year?

Based on Dongqing’s current situation, which great power would take the half-dead Dongqing royal family seriously?

Because the scholar was the “brain” of the Red Lotus Group and had the role of the strategist, An Cui had to give him some face.

Hence, he said, “That is a possibility.”

The scholar was about to breathe a sigh of relief. Things were okay as long as the troops were not gunning for the Red Lotus Group.

However, An Cui added another sentence.

“However, after some careful thought, Liu Yan might seek to accomplish something else and put his attention on our Red Lotus Group.”

That breath that the scholar had just released was sucked in again.

“What?”

An Cui smiled. With a confident demeanor, he said, “Liu Xi has stabilized Fengyi County. He took over Shangyang County in the winter. I believe that everyone knows the situation in Shangyang. Our sect and the Tsing Yi Army have fiercely attacked Shangyang County numerous times. We couldn’t conquer it, even after launching attacks that lasted for a long time. However, Liu Xi has taken over Shangyang County with its strength well preserved. With Shangyang County and the soldiers and horses of Fengyi County under his control, Liu Xi is at the peak of his power. If I were him, I would hope to take advantage of this powerful momentum to attack Chengde County and unify the province of Wan.”

There were only six provinces in the entire Dongqing dynasty. If successful, Liu Xi would be occupying one province all by himself!

After listening to this, the scholar truly felt that the words were rational and logical.

But, if he was a smarter man, he would realize that An Cui was fooling him.

An Cui talked a lot. His words seemed very logical, but they were, in fact, useless. Everything he said was mostly nonsense.

The scholar was bowled over by An Cui’s IQ, but he was also afraid that his performance would fall short compared to An Cui’s, thus affecting his prestige in the Red Lotus Group.

Hence, the scholar asked An Cui to come to the rear hall to discuss the matter in detail.

As soon as they took a seat, the scholar quickly asked, “Duo Xi, why did you say that things aren’t urgent yet?”

An Cui secretly frowned. He did not like others calling him by his courtesy name in such a casual way.

But he did not openly express negative emotions like the annoyance he was feeling now. Instead, he put on an excited expression that seemed to say, “I’ll be receiving an important position soon”.

“This…” An Cui didn’t leave the scholar in suspense as he shared his “analysis.” He said, “From my point of view, Liu Xi can’t bear to let go of a catch that is right in his path, but he does not dare to disobey the imperial decree to rescue the emperor. Therefore, he wants the best of both worlds. I reckon that he wants to mount an ambush on our sect… ”